Long Valley - day out with church group

Was invited by Dr. Choi to lead a tour to Long Valley for a group from Shatin Christian & Missionary Alliance Church, happily accepted the offer. Weather was fine, much more then fine in fact; it was a stunning day. Clear and dry, if not a little bit on the warm side. We met at the tofu factory and set off at around 3pm. I took along only my 7D II with 100-400mm lens with me, as I had to carry along the telescope as well. Things started off slowly, with common species at first, most showed well for everyone to enjoy. Stilts, Avocets, Wood Sandpipers, Little-ringed Plovers, Yellow Wagtails, Siberian Stonechats...the usual birds all greeted us nicely. We moved along to the pond where the Eastern Water Rail had been around, at first it didn't show, but then I moved along and found the bird standing by the water edge half blocked by vegetation. The Rail got spooked and not everyone saw it. Just as we thought we were out of luck, the Rail reappeared! Trotted along the water's edge, being as exposed a Water Rail can be, I even managed a record shot of it before it skulked back into the tall grass. Everyone was happy, me included!

Met Kwok Jai right after wandering on his own, he found the group some nicely camouflaged Painted Snipes that were very shy. Masters of disguise, these Painted Snipes gave our visitors a very hard time...I didn't even bother with a photo. As the group stopped by the organic farm to get some fresh veggies, my Father spotted a Black-faced Bunting, unfortunately it was too quick for the group. I managed a record shot however. We also got Sooty-headed Bulbul on the day, a nice addition to the day list.

We ended our tour at around 5pm, a good two hours to introduce Long Valley to the guys. Kwok Jai tagged along our car, on our way out right next to the road by the river, I spotted a shrike standing on a top of a ginger plant, it looked suspiciously reddish...I had Red-backed Shrike on my mind, but as we stopped the car a quick inspection revealed it as a female Bull-headed Shrike. Not exactly a Red-backed but a nice find none the less! I am very Okay with that. I had limited reach with my lens, so a distance record shot ended my day.